Colours ... Far out man !

http://www.privatefly.com/export/Pri...lour_codes.png

You'd think there was a NATO standard, but I can remember checking the appropriate manual and finding the national variations. There were a couple of gotchas in there........

WEATHER FACTORS 1Gp
Take-Off. The following are minimum conditions for aircraft take-offs:
• Green rated pilots. Sufficient visibility for the aircraft to be kept straight without reference to instruments. At night, this is considered to be 3 consecutive side or centreline runway lights.
• White Rated pilots. Minimum Met Vis of 1000 m and cloudbase not lower than 200 ft.
• 1G310.140.10 Circling Approach Minima. The minimum reported Met Vis for all categories of circling approaches is 2500 m.
• The minimum actual and forecast weather for a diversion airfield is to be as follows:
• One airfield with no significant cloud below 700 ft and a minimum visibility of 3700m (Green or better); or,
• Two airfields, which can be in close proximity, with no cloud below 500 ft and minimum visibility of 2500m (Yellow 1), however only Green Rated pilots are permitted to operate under these conditions.
• When selecting a diversion, stations are to consider the minimum weather, both actual and forecast for the operating period, is no worse that the pilot’s instrument rating limit.
• An independent subsidiary runway may be nominated as the diversion when the actual and forecast weather is White or better.

Use of Civilian Airports as Diversions.
Unlike UK military METARs that report the lowest visibility that cause a colour state change, civilian METAR will only report the lowest visibility if this is less than 50% of the Prevailing Visibility (PREVIS) or less than 1500M. Therefore, unless the visibility reduces to 1500M (Amber), you can only guarantee that the visibility is actually half of the PREVIS. As a result, when selecting a Civilian diversion, Sqns are to factor any PREVIS such that only half the declared visibility is guaranteed.

This may be out of date.

Etc etc

Indeed, LJ. As for,

I always wondered if that meant I could count the pair either side of me, the two ahead and the two behind. Anyway, I thought that's what the compass is for.

Lj101,

Unfortunately I think that you are a little out of date with some of your 1 Gp Rules. "Sufficient visibility for the aircraft to be kept straight without reference to instruments" is definately not acceptable to those who fly civilian registered ac in the RAF.I believefor them a minimum RVR or Met Vis is required for takeoff. I used to laugh in the last days of the Dominie at Cranwell when being told by some youth (Tutor QFI) that "you can't go flying in that weather, the vis is only 300 meters". To which the answer was "of couse I can, it's legal and in my opinion safe"
I believe that soon all Brit Military ac will soon have to comply with civilian regulations. Best get a current IRE to answer. The RAF will loose some of it's operational capability by giving way to these risk adverse people who do not properly understand Military Operations.

At Binbrook there was Yellow2 Wood. If you could just see it from dispersal
then it was Yellow2

Certainly until 1996 [when my crystal ball, fir cone, seaweed and pass were impounded] the Met Office never added other than:

BLU WHT GRN YLO AMB RED to any actual or forecast.

BLK was an ATC/OPS prerogataive.

YLO was never subdivided.

"The Board" in NATO was not subject to national [met] variations, only military interpretations.

"The Board" at JHQ Rheindahlen was started a year before my arrival as a rostered senior forecaster in 1980. Lads were still p*ssing themselves a year later. The PMeto had decreed a "Colour Board" in ther office, maintained by assistant number 1.
PMetO ordered buttons, coloured, magnetic, r a y g w b. Also board, metal. Map, NATO NW Europe. Fablon. Adhesive.

This was duly botched up and the grand unveiling. Neither r, o, y, g, w, or b adhered to fablon on map on board.

PMetO "its an inverse square law, fablon/ map/ adhesive too thick!"

Duly adjusted.

r,a,y,g,w and b still bit the dust.

"Sir, what's the board made of?"

"Aluminium alloy of course"

PMetO replaced very soon after, as was board.

When I arrived they were still larfing.

Best thing since sliced bread thereafter.

"David, were you expecting reds in Denmark?"

Sh1t!

Dominator

Source was a handbook I used last year - not had to refer to it since then but as you say, probably out of date. I didn't work with civilian registered aircraft.

The Service loves Colour States ... The Met is Blue ... But the Station is Bikini Amber :}

Does the (cloud) penetration certificate still exist at FTS's?

You big bunch of girls' blouses; who needs diversion airfields? Now when it's 'shipping it green' in the middle of the Atlantic (ahaaar), let me tell you about diversion airfields (ahhaaaaar again) :)

I once used the MG get out of jail free card to take off in zero/zero. Well, that was 'interesting'; kept straight using the heading in the HUD (as you'd expect) and duly took to the skies. Unfortunately got the leans and thought we were looping. I say 'we' because my mate was only a Green, so a pairs take-off was the only way we could get out of Denmark where we'd been playing with F16s. Well, I thought it was bad enough where I was sitting but #2 was having spatial awareness problems himself and didn't have a clue what was going on and only believed we weren't going to crash because he managed to grab a quick squint at the head-down AI and realise we weren't practicing IMC aeros. Where am I going with this story......ummm......errrrr......piss off Crabs, Fly Navy etc.

I think I'm getting old because I'm telling WIWO stories.....ahhhhhhh.

Pontius,

Pull yourself together, Man, you're rambling. Once again we see what happens if you suddenly stop taking your medication.

Nevermind Yellow, be thankful they didn't use Grey... There are 50 shades of those. Could get very complicated!

SSsshhhhh, it's a secret, Courtney, but I think I might have had too much medication. I think it's spelt Shiraz but it's made me very funny, a great dancer and incredibly good looking. Maybe time for another bottle.....I really love you....bloody Junior Service :p

Think I'll join you, Pontius.

Tad early, what!

(AAh, 1201, maybe not)

Lunchtime cocktail hour. Pink gins on the veranda.

When it hit Yellow 2 in RAFG, that was the time to consider a GCA after pulling out of low level.

Quite right Geehovah. Best sort of weather to go low flying in Germany, as no other bugger was out in it! :E